


Per Aspera Ad Astra

by Olympus117



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And gore, Darker retelling, Gen, Morally Grey Characters, and some frankly questionable moral decisions, black ops, flirting with the dark side, generous blend of canon/legends/headcanons, some violence, the resistance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24287677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olympus117/pseuds/Olympus117
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…Wars come and go. Heroes fade in and out of glory. But victories – no matter how triumphant – are never the end – only the beginning of the next chapter.A slightly darker retelling of the sequel series.
Kudos: 3





	Per Aspera Ad Astra

_\+ 20 years after the Battle of Endor_

The newly minted General Leia Organa stood silently on the bridge, hands clasped behind her back as she stared, unwavering, out of the viewport and into the roaring abyss of hyperspace. A fitting reflection of her inner state of mind, she thinks with no small amount of bitterness.

After all that she had given, bled for –fought for – sacrificed with all of her heart and soul – in the end, it still came down to blood. After the better part of two decades serving as a member of the Senate – with eight of those as Chancellor – the New Republic that she had worked so hard to build from the Empire’s ashes had cast her out the moment it became too difficult to deal with the truth. She had, as they say, become an ‘inconvenient problem’, a loose thread in the tapestry that she had woven so much of herself.

On one hand, she was one of the heroes of the rebellion, a figurehead against the empire –

– on the other, the blood of Darth Vader courses through her veins.

_The blood of a madman – a killer of worlds – the blood of a sith._

And the worst part? Leia can’t fully blame them. She knows she has always been quick to anger – a short temper that has sometimes flared white hot with the slightest provocation. She had never been one for the force – despite Luke’s constant nagging and efforts to the contrary – and some of that was to further distance herself from Vader’s shadow – but if Leia is being honest with herself, there had been times – especially when dealing with particularly stubborn, and sometimes downright cruel politicians – where she had felt the rage bubbling underneath her skin come roaring to the surface; hot, bright and _delicious_. When things around her would begin to rattle and shake – when her fingers twitch at her sides because it would be so easy to just choke the life out of –

See, Luke was all heroics, all unwavering faith in the good of people. Leia? No so much. Politics as a career did not exactly breed trust – rebellions against tyrannical empires even less so. On top of all that, watching, helpless as her planet was shattered before her had long ago hardened her resolve to a diamond’s edge. There was no room for weakness – for mercy in the heart of Leia Organa.

Where her brother wields his power with all the subtlety of a glowing lightsabre, her weapons are cloaked in shadow, quiet gasps from silenced blaster shots; honeyed knives in backs. There were days when whispered words from her lips could sink entire nations and bury souls so deep that they would never be found.

See, there are times, in her darkest of nightmares, when Leia puts herself in Vader’s stead on the bridge of the death star – and if circumstances had been different – if their roles had been reversed – if it was her victory on the line – Leia cannot deny that there is a part of her that would have given the same order and watched impassively as a planet burned.

Victory, at any cost.

So, perhaps this is for the best.

At least she gets a ship out of it.

Underneath her feet, she feels the durasteel plating shudder and the distant whine of the engines winding down. With a flash of light and a familiar lurch in the pit of her stomach, the _Executor_ -class super star destroyer _Alderaan_ drops out of hyperspace, the surreal blue and white abruptly shifting back to the familiar black. The irony of being assigned an _Executor_ -class given her heritage was impossible to miss. A threat? A warning perhaps? Maybe it was petty to name her the _Alderaan_ in response, but then again, Leia had always liked to get the last word in.

“Report,” Leia calls out.

“General, we have arrived at the border of the unknown regions,” her captain says, stepping forward from behind her. “All departments and systems report green across the board.”

“Very good,” she says softly. “Deploy scout droids. Prepare to chart us a course through.”

“At once, General.”

Leia stands on the deck of one of the most fearsome warships in recent memory – fully stocked with enough fighters, weapons, vehicles and supplies to singlehandedly fight a war. Her crew numbered near 50,000 – including Republic Commandos and ex-rebellion troopers – volunteers all.

In her pocket, a writ from Chancellor Mothma (grudgingly in her second term – drafted to replace what was once her chair) that authorised the creation of a clandestine black operation, code-named the _Resistance_ , with a mandate to do whatever was necessary to ensure the continued safety of the New Republic.

Somewhere out there, the empire was rebuilding.

Somewhere, out there, Ben Solo had taken his last breath, screaming in the dark for his mother.

_She could still remember feeling the force bond between them twist, fray and suddenly snap –_

And for that, Leia Organa would burn them all from the stars and scatter the ashes in her wake.

_The blood of a madman – the blood of a sith._

The feral chill of certainty settles into her bones and Leia’s lips curl into a faint smile. Unbeknownst to her, the faintest flash of yellow dances merrily across her irises. 

Behind her, unseen, the force ghost of Anakin Skywalker looks on in horror and _screams_.


End file.
